Bring on the Sun!

November was an amazing month of sun. Normally we receive 19 days of measurable sun in November (about half that in February, and and about double that for August!). This year, virtually every day had moments of brightness. Above, Canmoron-turned-Squamite Lydia Zamorano is doing her part to bring on the sun for an afternoon of craggin at Mt. Boucherie. When the weather co-operates and warms up the rock, Boucherie is actually climbable year-round. Winter climbing simply means a few more layers.

Notes from Aaron

Climber guy Aaron Culver, who set up the Lair with buddy Adam Tutte, sent me the following beta regarding Cedar Park's newest wall. His words bring to attention the difficulties of accurately grading spanky new routes. By the time we publish the next Kelowna Rock, there will be a much better general consensus on grades at the Lair. Just keep in mind, along with the grade, pay attention to number of bolts vs. length of the route, style of the climb, as well as the name (and reach!) of the setter. Each route-setter is an artist, and after a while you may choose climbs according to the attached signature (or cross it off your list of must-dos).

Says Aaron:

"As for retrograding ...  There are some things that need to be addressed. I have heard from a number of people that some of the 11’s on the right-hand side of the crag are pretty sandbagged, so I have upped the grade to 11+ on “Enter the Dragon” and “Double Yer Pleasure.” Both lines have yet to see on onsight. (I have heard everything from 11c to 12a for these. It wasn’t an intentional sandbag, I just didn’t think they were that hard, so I would be happy to go along with the majority vote on this)

Also “Itsy Bitsy” is obviously not 12d and the consensus grade is 12b/c (depends what your style is I guess). Adam say’s “Spank” is not being upgraded regardless of general input. It’s still 5’9, it’s just a 5’9 with crimps folks. Compared to Plume Line It’s pretty chill.

Thanks to everyone for their input on the lines. It was fun to put them up."

Special Events / Climbing News

• The Parking lot is paved! That's right. According to Drew Fullerton, local rep for the Climbers Access Society of British Columbia (CASBC) the new parking lot and access road for Skaha Bluffs in Penticton has been paved. Hooray! The city still needs to do a bit of paving on city land, make the Smythe Road turnoff  from East Side Road a bit safer, but all in all, looks like we will have access for 2009.  We will keep you posted.
• The Kelowna Museum will be featuring an exhibit on mountaineering and climbing from May - September 2009. Patti Kilback, is looking for people to talk to and cool stuff to exhibit, so if you have information, photos or equipment that would help tell the tales of our wonderful region, contact her at  pkilback@kelownamuseums.ca   phone 250-868-4876 or fax: 250-868-9272.
  
• Check out the article about rock climbing in Kelowna featured in the Capital News.
• For the latest on brand new routes and problems, check each area's page.